Apparatus for filling material into and discharging material from compartments

ABSTRACT

A method and machine for making a coated candy cluster. In a preferred form of the invention, the machine includes a rotatable rotor having a plurality of compartments. The rotor rotates the compartments between a filling station in which cluster material is deposited in the compartments and a discharge station at which the cluster material is discharged from the rotor onto a conveyor. Motoring means responsive to rotation of the rotor control the amount of cluster material deposited in each of the compartments. The conveyor conveys the discharge cluster material to an enrober which coats the cluster material with chocolate or other suitable coating material.

United States Patent 1 3,704,815

Jones 1 Dec. 5, 1972 [541 APPARATUS FOR FILLING MATERIAL 2,886,216 5/1959 Oholm ..222/368 x INTO AND DISCHARGING MATERIAL 2,808,181 10/1957 Oehler et al...., ..222/368 FROM COMPARTMENTS P E Stan] H T "b rrmary xammer- Cy O er [72] Inventor: Robert F. Jones, Los Angeles, Cal1f. Attorney smyth Roston & Pavitt g [73] Assignee: Hoffman Manufacturing Company,

Glendale, Calif. ABSTRACT [22] Filed; Feb 1 1970 A method and machine for making a coated candy cluster. In a preferred form of the invention, the [21] PP N04 11,658 machine includes a rotatable rotor having a plurality of compartments. The rotor rotates the compartments Related Apphcanon Data between a filling station in which cluster material is [62] Division of Ser. No. 726,153, May 2, 1968, Pat. No. deposited in the compartments and a discharge station ,550. at which the cluster material is discharged from the rotor onto a conveyor. Motoring means responsive to [52] US. Cl ..222/368 rotation of the rotor control the amount of cluster [51] Int. Cl ..G01f 11/10 material deposited in each of the compartments. The [58] Field of Search .....222/368, 410, 370, 367; conveyor conveys the discharge cluster material to an 221/266, 277, 82 enrober which coats the cluster material with chocolate or other suitable coating material. 5 R f C't d 6] e erences l e 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,446,404 5/1969 Mehta ....222/368 X PATENTED DEC 5 I973 SHEET 3 [1F 3 APPARATUS FOR FILLING MATERIAL INTO AND DISCHARGING MATERIAL FROM COMPARTMENTS This is a division of application Ser. No. 726,153 filed May 2, 1968, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,550.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION cluster material in separate clusters on a movable conveyer. The conveyer conveys the cluster material to an enrober which coats the clusters with warm liquid chocolate. The chocolate is removed from the conveyer and then dried.

More particularly in a typical cluster making machine, cluster material is deposited in compartments of a drum or rotor which rotates about a horizontal axis. The cluster material is deposited within a compartment when such compartment faces generally upwardly to substantially prevent gravity flow of material therefrom. The rotor is then rotated to pivot such compartment to a discharge position at which the cluster material is moved from the compartment onto the conveyer.

Because the weight of food products must be exactly what it is stated on the container therefor, it is important that an accurate amount of the cluster material be metered into the compartment. Heretofore, the compartments have been sized so that when completely full, they contain the required amount of cluster material. To avoid overfilling, it is necessary to provide a brush or other similar device to remove any excess material from the top of the compartment. Thus, the rotor itself performs the metering and distributing functions. This arrangement is undesirable in that it is necessary to change the rotor or make other complicated adjustments whenever it is desired to use a different amount of cluster material.

The construction describedabove is also undesirable .in that it shears some of the cluster material as it moves from the filling station to the discharge station. Specifically, a retainer is provided in close proximity to the rotor in an effort to retain the cluster material within the compartments of the rotor when the rotor is rotating between the filling and discharge stations. During this time the cluster material tends to fall out of the compartments and oftentimes some of the cluster material is sheared off by the rotor and retainer. The material thus sheared becomes wedged or trapped in between the retainer and the outer surface of the rotor. Raisins are particularly troublesome in this respect in that they are easily sheared, and when sheared are extremely gummy and messy. Prior art mechanical cluster machines are unsuited for coating raisin clusters. The trapped cluster material may offer significant resistance to rotation of the rotor and in addition is wasted raw material. More important, however, the entrapped cluster material may become rancid or spoil and such conditions cannot be tolerated in food processing equipment. Accordingly, it is necessary to very frequently clean this portion of the machine. I have discovered that this shearing problem is created,

in part, by completely filling of the compartments of the rotor with the cluster material.

The cluster material is often in granular form and it is difficult to retain such granularmaterial in separate discrete clusters during the time that it is'being conveyed to the enrober. Although various mechanisms have been devised for this purpose, they are generally relatively complex, difficult to clean and not s uitedfor use with smaller enrobing machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention eliminates the numerous problems experienced heretofore as a result of using the rotor to both meter and distribute the cluster material. This is accomplished by separating the metering and distributing function. Specifically, the present invention teaches utilizing a rotor having relatively large compartments therein and using separate metering means to meter the cluster material into the compartment in insufficient quantities to completely fill the compartment. The rotor sets to distribute or. deposit the cluster material on the conveyer but does not meter the cluster material. With this arrangement, the same rotor canbe used for different size clusters thereby making the machine more versatile and eliminating the expense of purchasing and storing rotors of different sizes or of providing complex means for adjusting compartment size.

The present invention also teaches that by not completely filling the compartments with cluster material, the problem of shearing of the cluster material is eliminated. As the compartments are not completely full of cluster material, they contain some free space so that the cluster material is free to more tumble with the compartments as the rotor rotates from the filling station, at which the cluster material is deposited into the compartments, to the discharge station, at which the cluster material is removed from the rotor. As the cluster material is free to move within the compartments, the cluster material does not resist the efforts of the retainer to hold the cluster material within the compartments. Thus, the tendency of the cluster material to be sheared between the rotor and the retainer is eliminated.

To further reduce the shearing tendency of the cluster material, the retainer is preferably in the form of a flexible sheet. A flexible sheet makes a better retainer than a rigid plate because the sheet can be constructed of a low friction material so that it can be urged tightly against the peripheral surface of the rotor without imparting significant resistance to rotation I thereof and without wearing the rotor, in addition, the flexible sheet inherently conforms to the peripheral surface of the rotor and tightly retains the cluster material within the compartments. By way of contrast a metal plate would have to be accurately machined at significant expense to obtain comparable conformity to the rotor surface.

The dehumidifier film or coat is strongly bonded to the material of a container being dehydrated, so that no additional means or operations are required for securing said dehumidifier composition in said container.

The method of obtaining the present dehumidifying composition in the form of a film or coat comprises applying onto the inner surface of containers a suspension containing 100 parts by weight of zeolite having a humidity of 20-23 wt. percent, 45-280 parts by weight of a thermosetting resin, 120 parts by weight of an organic solvent intended for dissolving said resin, -45 parts by weight of a suitable plasticizer, and 085 parts by weight of a curing agent.

The suspension applied onto the inner surface of a container is maintained in the air at a temperature of from 5 to 80 C in order to remove the bulk of volatile components, followed by subjecting said suspension to heat treatment in vacuo at a residual pressure of not greater than mm Hg and at a temperature of from 150 to 180 C. Said heat treatment removes the last traces of volatile components, brings about binder polymerization and results in the formation of film or coat (layer) depending upon the amount of the suspension used, said film (coat) being characterized by a highly extended porous structure which is adhesively bonded to the coated surface and provides for the requisite kinetics of water vapor adsorption. The porous structure of a dehumidifying composition film is defined by the volume of primary pores in zeolite crystals and by the volume of secondary pores. The

volume of secondary pores depends primarily on the dispersity of zeolite crystals and binder (resin) particles, as well as on the nature of the binder used, and the type and density of zeolite crystal and binder particle packing.

The volume of secondary pores in the range of equivalent radii of from 291,000 to 31 A equals 0.044 cm lcm a significant portion of said volume (0.020 em /cm") being due to the pores in the equivalent radius range of from 98 to 3l An essential feature of the present dehumidifying composition is that it provides the possibility of controlling the kinetics of adsorption by varying the proportion of components of stock suspensions, so that the present dehumidifying composition can be used in devices and instruments of various types and sizes, the desired kinetics of moisture adsorption inside a given device (instrument being attained by selecting an appropriate ratio of suspension components. As compared to the known dehumidifying agents in the form of tablets or thickened silicone oil-based mixtures, the present dehumidifying composition in the form of a film or coat occupies a very small volume inside casings and has an insignificant weight. Said beneficial characteristics of the present dehumidifying composition make it eminently suited for use in conjunction with microminiaturized electronic instruments. The dehumidifying composition contained in an instrument cas- The present dehumidifying composition is employed without resorting to mechanical means for securing said composition in instrument (device) casings or to special-type equipment for introducing said composi tion into instrument (device) casings and is suitable for being introduced into casings (bulbs) of any shape or size at one and the same production section, the latter feature being highly advantageous for the simultaneous production of diverse types of semiconductor instruments. It is expedient to use the present dehumidifying composition irrespective of the scale or automation degree of production processes or when the manufacture of instrument casings and the assembly of finished semiconductor devices are carried out at different plants.

It follows from the foregoing that the present dehumidifying composition used in the form of a film or coat is commercially superior to the known dehumidifiers.

The following examples are illustrative of the manner of carrying out the invention but are not intended to limit the scope thereof.

EXAMPLE 1.

One hundred parts by weight of Type Na zeolite A (moisture content, 25 percent by weight; particle diameter, 4 me maximum) is mixed with parts by weight of epoxide resin (molecular weight, 370-450; epoxy group content, 18 percent) dissolved in l27 parts by weight of an organic solvent having the following composition, percent by weight: butyl acetate, 10; cellosolve (C H -OCH CH OH), 8; acetone, 7; butanol, 15; ethanol, 10, and toluene, 50. Dubutyl phthalate (plasticizer) is added to the stirred mixture in an amount of 5 parts by weight, followed by introducing 10 parts by weight of polyethylene polyamine (curing agent). The resulting mixture is thoroughly mixed to obtain a homogeneous suspension. The dehumidifying composition thus prepared is ready for use.

Use is made of a buret, an atomizer or a syringe to apply the composition on the inner surface of instrument metal casings (bulbs) having a volume of 0.25 cm From 10 to 12 mg of said composition is introduced in each bulb, followed by maintaining the bulbs with said composition applied thereonto for a period of 10-20 hours in the air at ambient temperature in order to remove the bulk of volatile components. Next the bulbs are placed in a vacuum drying cabinet, subjected to gradual heating to a temperature of C at a residual pressure of 0.1 mm Hg, and maintained at this temperature for a period of 3 hours. It is pertinent to gradually heat the composition in order to provide in the resultant film an access of zeolite micropores to the ambient atmosphere and to attain good adhesion of the film to the bulb surface. The resultant film displays heat stability up to a temperature of 200C in the air. The thus-treated bulbs are ready for use as sealing components of instruments or circuits.

Mechanical tests of the film under the conditions prescribed for testing transistors enclosed in bulbs are indicative of the absence of crumbling, dusting or cracking phenomena.

The film obtained by the procedure described herein before is capable of maintaining in the hermetically sealed volume of the bulb a low relative humidity in the temperature range of from 60 to +1 50C.

switch 71, electromagnetic means does not operate and no cluster material 37 is'supplied to the compartments 33. The cam 69 is mounted for rotation with the shaft 35 and it will be appreciated that cams of various contours can be utilized to vary the amount of cluster material sup plied to the compartments 33.

Preferably, the cam 69 is selected so that the amount of cluster material 37 is supplied to each of the compartments 33 is insufficient to completely fill the compartment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the cluster material 37 is supplied to the compartments 33 at a filling station at which the compartments open upwardly so that no gravity flow therefrom can occur. In the embodiment illustrated, the compartments 33 are supplied with the cluster material when they are at or near the 11 oclock position. The rotor 15 in the embodiment illustrated rotates clockwise from the filling station to a discharge station at which the compartments open directly downwardly to permit gravity flow out of the compartments. In the embodiment illustrated the compartments 33 are in approximately a 6 oclock position when the material is discharged therefrom.

In traveling between the stations, a retainer 75 engages the peripheral surface of the rotor 15 to prevent the cluster material 35 from falling out the open ends of the compartments 33. The retainer 75 has one or more apertures 77 located at the discharge station so that the cluster material 37 automatically falls from the compartments 33 through the apertures 77 onto the conveyer 17 when such compartments reach the discharge station. To this end, the number and/or size of the apertures 77 is selected so that each of the compartments 33 at the discharge station can have the cluster material discharged therefrom.

By not filling the compartments 33 completely with the cluster material 37, each of the compartments has some free space to allow the cluster material to tumble as the rotor rotates from the filling station to the discharge station. As the cluster material 37 is free to move within the compartments 33, it is much less likely to become forced between the peripheral surface of the rotor and the retainer 75.

The retainer 75 is preferably in the form of a relatively flexible sheet such as a nylon sheet. The flexible re-tainer 75 inherently conforms to the contour of the drum l5 and tightly holds the cluster material 37 within the compartments 33 to thereby guard against entrapment of the cluster material between the retainer and a rotor 15. The retainer 75 extends for the full axial length of the rotor 15 and extends over 270 around the rotor. In the embodiment illustrated, the retainer 75 is mounted by rods 79 provided at opposite ends of the retainer and suitably mounted on the frame of the machine.

The purpose of the conveyer 17 is to receive the discharged cluster material 37, confine the cluster material, and convey the cluster material through subsequent work stations. The details of the conveyer 17 can best be seen in FIG. 3. The conveyer 17 includes spaced parallel side support members 81 (only one being shown in FIG. 3). Each of the support members 81 has a flat bar 83 secured to the inner face thereof by fasteners 85. Sprocket chains 87 ride along the upper edges of the bars 83 which support and guide the chains.

A series of identical cup assemblies 89 are secured at their opposite ends to the chains 87. Each of the cup assemblies 89 is preferably constructed of sheet material and includes a plurality of cups 91 interconnected by integral webs 93. Although'the cups 91 are generally cylindrical in the embodiment illustrated, it should be understood that the cups may be provided in various different configurations depending upon the desired shape of the final product. The number of cups 91 in each of the cup assemblies 89 conforms to the number of compartments 33 in an axially extending row of the compartments. Each of the cups 91 includes a peripheral wall 95, an open outer end 97 and an open inner end 99. The peripheral wall may have slots 101 formed therein.

The cup assembly 89 can be advantageously formed from two strips of sheet metal, each of which is bent to form half of each of the cups 91 and half the thickness of the webs 93. These two strips of sheet metal, in the embodiment illustrated, are secured together as by spot welds 103.

Flanges 105 are formed at the opposite ends of each of the cup assemblies 89. The outermost webs 93 have slots 107 formed therein and pins 109 of the sprocket chains 87 project through apertures in the web 105. A split ring retainer 111 extends through each of the slots 107 and is received within grooves on the ends of the pins 109. Thus, the cup assemblies 89 can be moved by moving the chains 87.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the conveyer 17 moves along an endless path which defines a closed loop with one end portion of the loop defining a generally U- shaped portion which lies beneath the rotor 15. As the cups 91 are to receive the discharged cluster material 37 from the rotor 15, it is important that the cups move in timed relation to the rotation of the rotor. To assure proper sequencing of rotor and conveyer movements, the conveyer is driven by the gear 51 through another gear 113 (FIGS. 1 and 4) which is mounted on a shaft 115 of the conveyer. The shaft 115 extends between the support members 81 and has a pair of sprockets 117, (only one being shown in FIG. 2) mounted on the opposite ends thereof for driving the sprocket chains 87 and the cups 91. As the rotor 15 drives the conveyer 17, the desired sequencing of movements therebetween is assured.

As the ends 97 and 99 of the cups 91 are open, it is important that means be provided to close at least the lower end of the cups during the time that the cups have the cluster material therein. To this end, the shaft 1 15 is sized and shaped to close the inner ends 99 of the cups 91 when the cups are at the end of the conveyer 17 immediately beneath the rotor 15. In the embodiment illustrated, the shaft 115 is of square cross section, it being understood that other configurations which serve close the inner ends 99 of the cups may be used. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the shaft 115 has four fiat surfaces 119 with the upper flat surface engaging and closing the inner ends 99 of the cups 91 positioned at the discharge station. Similarly, the'lower and outer vertical surfaces 119 of the shaft 115 engage adjacent rows of cups 91 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The conveyer 17 moves counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 1 and the shaft 1 15 moves with the cups 91 to continue to close the inner ends thereof. That is, the flat surfaces 7 8 and exhibits the requisite kinetics of water vapor ad- 8. A hemetically sealable container for providing sorptiona moisture free environment for enclosing moisture enclosure for Providing a moisture-free sensitive equipment having at least some portion of Vifonmenl compl'lsmg a container for f environ its inner surface coated with a film of the dehumidifyment, having at least some portion of its inner surface 5 ing compasition f claim L coated with a film of the desiccant composition of claim 1.

Y 47 762100.901 coll/602 1011 a; r 1 a l.

second means mounting the first means for arcuate movement to move each of the compartments sequentially from the filling station to the discharge station and for orienting the compartments at the filling station to prevent substantially gravity flow of the material from the compartments and for orienting the compartments at the discharge station to provide for a discharge of the material from the compartments,

third means for providing the arcuate movement of the first means,

fourth means operable to supply a particular amount of the material to each of the compartments as such compartment reaches the filling station, the material being discharged by gravity from each compartment as each of such compartments reaches the discharge station,

flexible means disposed in an intermediate region between the filling station and the discharge station and in proximity to the peripheral surface of the rotor to close the compartments in the intermediate region for retaining the material in the compartments as the compartments are moved from the filling station to the discharge station, and

said flexible means extending beyond said discharge station and constructed at said discharge station to provide for gravity flow of material from the compartments at the discharge station. 

1. In combination for filling material from a filling station and for thereafter discharging the material at a discharge station: a rotor having a plurality of circumferentially spaced compartments therein, each of said compartments defining an opening at the peripheral surface of the rotor; means for mounting said rotor for rotation about an axis to move each of said compartments sequentially from the filling station to the discharge station and for orienting the compartments at the filling station to substantially prevent gravity flow of the material from the compartments and for orienting the compartments at the discharge station to provide for a discharge of the material from the compartments; means for rotating said rotor about said axis; supply means operable to supply material to each of the compartments as such compartment reaches the filling station, the material being discharged by gravity from the compartments as each of said compartments reaches the discharge station; a relatively flexible sheet disposed in an intermediate region between the filling station and the discharge station, said sheet being disposed in proximity to the peripheral surface of the rotor to close said compartments in said intermediate region to thereby retain the material in said compartments as the compartments are moved from the filling station to the discharge station, and said sheet extending beyond said discharge station and having at least one aperture therein at said discharge station to provide gravity flow of the material from the compartments at said discharge station.
 2. In the combination set forth in claim 1 the relative flexible sheet being stationary and being flexible to inhibit entrapment of the material between the retainer and the rotor.
 3. In combination for filling material from a filling station and for thereafter discharging the material at a discharge station, first means movable in an arcuate path and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced compartments therein and having a peripheral surface, each of said compartments defining an opening at the peripheral surface of the first means, second means mounting the first means for arcuate movement to move each of the compartments sequentially from the filling station to the discharge station and for orienting the compartments at the filling station to prevent substantially gravity flow of the material from the compartments and for orienting the compartments at the discharge station to provide for a discharge of the material from the compartments, third means for pRoviding the arcuate movement of the first means, fourth means operable to supply a particular amount of the material to each of the compartments as such compartment reaches the filling station, the material being discharged by gravity from each compartment as each of such compartments reaches the discharge station, flexible means disposed in an intermediate region between the filling station and the discharge station and in proximity to the peripheral surface of the rotor to close the compartments in the intermediate region for retaining the material in the compartments as the compartments are moved from the filling station to the discharge station, and said flexible means extending beyond said discharge station and constructed at said discharge station to provide for gravity flow of material from the compartments at the discharge station. 